Matthew Jordan has been playing golf at Royal Liverpool since the age of seven, now he will go down in history as having hit the opening tee shot of the 151st Open.
Two weeks ago the 27-year-old wasn’t even in The Open, then he shot 65-69 at nearby West Lancs. Then the R&A’s chief executive Martin Slumbers got in touch and he was first to hit off at 0635 on the Thursday of the game’s oldest Major.
The doors to Hoylake opened at 0600 and, by the time Richie Ramsay, Branden Grace and the local hero entered the mini arena the stands were full, the Claret Jug in place, the TV lights on and Slumbers in place to welcome the players.
The reception for, first, Ramsay and then Grace was heart-warming, the one for Jordan was off the charts with the members and friends raising the roof. If you ever wanted an example of what makes this Championship extra special then this was it.
“It’s an amazing honour. I’m sure the 1st tee, no matter what was going to be special, but obviously to have this as a kid growing up, I used to wake up early, 6:30, and that was The Open commencing. So I’ve got fond memories, so to have this honour is brilliant,” explained Jordan earlier in the week.
“Once I qualified so many people told me, messaged me, saying they’re going to be here, they’re going to be loud, they’re going to offer me support. As I said, I can’t put a number on it, but I’m sure there will be a few anyway, as long as I’ve got some friends anyway.”
As for the shot he pulled a driver, 270 yards and into the rough, but it was away. Ramsay double-crossed himself and there were whispers that he had gone out of bounds. Thankfully for the Scot the fencing was for the 18th and nothing to do with any internal out of bounds. Grace missed the fairway the other side but all three players cajoled pars out of the opening hole and they were on their way.
“When I was 16 I shot a 69 off the backs here, which is one of my first amazing rounds. But my lowest, I’ve probably done 62,” Jordan added.
“In terms of club championships, I think I did three in a row until I started playing all the amateur stuff so I couldn’t compete anymore. I think people like my dad were playing in that so it wasn’t too tough to win.”
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